The family head
by Lisa Harkema
Grey trotters have always caught the attention of the public, Greyhound naturally being a big reason. Of the thousands of stallions which were at stud before 1900, very few were successful sires of speed – and almost no grey ones. One exception, though, was Pilot Medium who sired Peter the Great. Pilot Medium’s grey coat is inherited from his damsire, Pilot Jr, who was a famous horse in his time and widely acknowledged as the best horse in “the Pilot family.”
The origins of the Pilot line trace to Quebec. Pilot was also referred to as “Pacing Pilot”, “Canadian Pilot”, “Old Pilot” or just Pilot. He was described as a coal black horse with a rather heavy and long body with a heavy mane and tail and of ugly temper. He was said to have been “compactly-built and a very muscular horse, something less than 15 hands (152 cms) in height.” Joseph Battell spent many hours trying to track down Pilot’s origins and came up with following, taken from John Hervey’s book The American Trotter: “Bred by Louis Dansereau in the province of Quebec and foaled 1823. Sire unknown; dam Jeanne d’Arc, by Voyageur. The black stallion was a fast pacer but reputedly so vicious that the owner would not even go in the stall with him. While in Montreal in 1830, the peddler Elias Rockwell bought him for $150. Rockwell, from Stafford Springs, CT and later settled in Norwich, NY, travelled all over and did a little horse trading on the side. Rockwell had put a bridle and saddle on Pilot and after riding him he bought the black stallion.” The latter historical piece of information suggest that maybe the claims about his temper may have been a bit exaggerated.